


The Wolf and the Dove

by shimmer_me_timbers



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Disabled Character, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 11:17:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14893628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shimmer_me_timbers/pseuds/shimmer_me_timbers
Summary: What if the Winter Soldier's basic programming included the protection of the last remaining subject of Hydra's Project Gemini?Ash is a natural empath and tactile telepath with memory manipulation abilities.  Project Gemini caused major physical disabilities while amping up her natural abilities.  When Hydra crashes and burns with Pierce's helicarriers she takes it upon herself to rescue her protector and set out on a journey to restore his memories and rid him of Hydra programming.





	The Wolf and the Dove

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own most of these characters, they belong to Marvel. This section takes place during The Winter Soldier. Parts were taken from the movie but twisted for my own purposes.
> 
> As usual, feel free to leave comments. Feed back will help me become a better writer and improve my story, so bring it on.
> 
> Side note before we begin. In this section (and possibly some to follow) Ash refers to the Winter Soldier as "Red". She's not supposed to know his actual name at this point so she gave him the name "Red" because of the star on his arm.

Three agents silently wheeled Ash into the dank hallway of the underground bunker. One pushed her chair and two flanked her. The only sound coming from the room were familiar zaps and sparks, a sure sign Red had damaged his arm again. Red was stripped to the waist by their captors, most likely an attempt to show dominance. His eyes were disturbingly unfocused and his face vacant. The mission wasn't done, so why was she needed?

Red's eyes started darting around wildly as if recreating a moment from his distant past. Ash could feel the anxiety and fear rolling off him, it enveloped her so intensely that she was only vaguely aware of the flash of Red's silver arm flinging the closest guard across the room. After a few deep breaths Ash was able to push away his emotions enough to see all the armed guards in the room taking aim at Red's head.

She managed to break free from her escorts and slowly pushed her chair towards Red. He was like a cornered animal, any sudden movement would spook him into violent action. Ash held eye contact, she could see that there was some sort of fragile recognition.

"It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you." Ash cooed as she slowly approached. "I'm here to help."

The dampness was getting to her left hand, she could feel it starting to tense inside her glove. To make life easier she used her teeth to pull off her right glove and reached out towards Red.

"Don't." Secretary Pierce called from the doorway.

Ash slowly backed away, knowing the consequences of disobeying a direct order. She learned that many painful times over the few years, she had the scars to prove it.

"Mission report." Pierce ordered, motioning to the agents to lower their weapons. "Now."

It never ceased to both amaze and disturb Ash that those two simple words sent Red into a trance like state, submitting to his captors like he had been programmed to do so many years before. This time was a little different, he there was a long pause as if he wasn't sure how to answer.

Pierce slapped Red across the face, the crack was so loud it echoed down the hall and disappeared into the darkness.

"There was a man on the bridge," Red murmured."Who was he?"

"You met him earlier this week on another assignment." Pierce explained.

"I... I knew him."

"Soldier, your service to mankind has been impressive. On could even say that your actions have shaped this century... and I need you to serve one more time. The scale of the world is on a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we will be putting our thumb on that scale, a simple push into action. But if you don't do your part in this, I can't do mine. And Hydra can't give the world the freedom it deserves."

"But, I knew him." Red responded with a meak smile.

"Then wipe him and start over." Pierce ordered.

"Yes sir." Ash answered.

"Not you," Pierce glared at her. "Either your abilities aren't what they used to be or you didn't wipe him as you were ordered. Now we'll do it the old fashioned way. And when you get back to the facilities your doctors will run some more testing."

"Sir, I did as I was ordered." Ash pleaded. "Please don't punish him."

"Who said I'm punishing _him_? There's too much time and money invested in your alterations and training so just think of him as a whipping boy."

Ash's heart dropped when she saw the look in Red's eyes. She could see the pain and anxiety as he sat there resigned to his fate like he was conditioned to do.

"Please don't do this." Ash refused to let the tears that pricked her eyes to manifest.

"Make sure she watches." Pierce ordered before disappearing down the hall. "Then transfuse, but only a half a millimeter. I'll need her to be functional later."

Two doctors forced Red back into the dentist chair and placed a black guard in his mouth. With the touch of a few buttons thick metal clamps locked Red into the chair and what looked two large paddles closed around his head. The machine kicked on and a zap sounded which was drowned out by the agonizing screams of a tortured man. After a few minutes that felt like hours, the screaming stopped and the perfect soldier was replaced by a cold and empty shell.  One of the doctors checked Red's vitals while the other drew a small amount of blood from their patient.

Butterflies beat wildly around Ash's stomach as the doctor approached her with the syringe of blood. The other doctor grabbed her left arm and pushed the sleeve of her shirt to the elbow. After swabbing the area with alcohol, she was jabbed with the needle and injected with a small amount of Red's blood.

Ash doubled over as the pain washed over her, the feeling was so intense she could barely breath. She grabbed her head firmly with both hands, screaming and willing the pain away. Her captors learned long ago that the best punishment for their enhanced empath with telemetric abilities was to force her into a room with someone in pain then to inject her with their blood in order to relive the experience first hand. Over the years this had become their favorite way to teach her a lesson without damaging their most successful science experiment.

The last thing she remembered was screaming her throat raw before passing out from the overwhelming pain.

* * *

 

It must have been hours before Ash woke up. Her head throbbed as she sat up on an over stuffed couch, she was no longer in the dank basement. While she was unconscious, they moved to a small office on the ground floor with one small window. She tried to locate her wheelchair but the room was spinning too fast. Ash closed her eyes and reached out with her extra senses, she could feel that she wasn't alone and they were extremely conflicted.

"Jesus Christ, I thought they killed you." Grumbled an agent close by the door.  "I'm agent Simon.  Your wheelchair is next to you and once you get cleaned up I was ordered to take you to Pierce's office to meet with him after the event.  Your go-bag is on the back of your wheelchair and the bathroom is through the door on your left."

"I need a bucket." Ash managed between dry heaves.

"Here," Simon shoved a trash can at her. "You better get this over with. I don't particularly want you to up chuck all over the car if I'm going to be stuck with you for a while. Plus the boss won't like it if you arrive coated in puke."

"How gallant."

She spent the next ten minutes bet over the can, ridding her stomach of any trace of food left in her body. That was the standard response to this type of punishment. Once the room stopped spinning she took a few deep breaths transferred to her chair.  There wasn't much Ash could do in the field,especially in an office washroom. Most of her clean up would have to wait until Pierce too her back to the facility. For now Ash re-plaited her braid, brushed her teeth, and splashed some water on her face.

"This is some fucked up shit that I didn't sign up for." Simon stated. "Scrambling some dude's brains and torturing a..."

"A cripple?" Ash finished. "Yeah, well... welcome to Hydra. It's what they do."

"I signed up to make the world a free place."

"Must be nice."

"What must be nice?'

"To have a choice."

Once Ash was ready, Agent Simpson pushed her wheelchair all the way to the car.  Simpson stood awkwardly to the side while Ash pulled her forearm crutches off the back of her wheelchair and used them to walk to the front passenger's seat.  Simpson was able to fold the light framed chair and toss it in the trunk with ease.

The ride was silent, not even the radio played.  With the office building on the horizon, all the fine hairs on Ash's body stood up and a chill ran down her spine.  Explosions rang out all around them as the three newly-launched Helicarriers started to burn and drop from the sky in pieces. Ash quickly slipped her glove off and touched her companion's bare hand. She felt a his steadily growing fear and used her ability to almost paralyze him with fear. Ash never liked adjusting people's emotions, she felt like it was an unethical violation.

"What do I do?" Simon pulled over in a panic.

"Give me a minute."

This was her chance, she could use this as a distraction and fall off the grid so Hydra could never find her. No more tests, no more surgeries, no more experiments.  Her heart dropped when she thought of Red, he wouldn't recognize her but she couldn't leave him behind. It was in his programming to protect her at all costs, the least she could do was try to return the favor and free him from his captivity.  Maybe one day should could fix him too.

Ash closed her eyes, hoping the blood wasn't out of her system yet. She too a deep breath in and exhaled, centering herself and followed a similar process that she had many times before. She focused on the foreign blood pulsing through her veins and pushed past the memories in his blood to flashes of what was currently happening. Ash could feel that Red was in pain and scared, hazy memories tried to break past his programming. Ash could see Captain America doing his best to bring back his long lost friend.

"Drive to the lake on the West side of the office compound.." Ash ordered.

"But that's too close to the building."

"There's a back road that takes you to the tree line. We'll be far enough away to steer clear of debris." Ash squeezed Simon's hand and gave him a surge of Adrenalin.

"Yes ma'am."

It felt like forever until they reached their destination. Red broke through the treeline with a limp, his good arm close to his chest. He was in rough shape, but Ash had seen him look worse.

"Red!" Ash screamed out the window.

Red hobbled towards the car, unsure if he should get in. The more he stared at Ash, the more she could see recognition in his eyes. She couldn't tell if it was his programming or if he remembered her. He was taking too much time, she cringed when she decided the best way to save him was to give him an order.

"Get in." She ordered in her best Russian. "Leave the driver, but don't kill him."

As ordered Red pulled Simon from the drivers seat and slipped into the driver's seat. The car pealed away, leaving only the sent of burning rubber behind.

"We need to fix you up and get a new car." Ash pointed out. "But there are some things in the trunk that we can't leave behind."


End file.
